The present invention relates to a nocking system for archery, and more particularly to a nock element fastened to the rear end of an arrow shaft and a nocking member which cooperates with the nocking element and which is carried by the bowstring of a sporting or hunting bow.
It is known to form a nocking point on a bowstring by winding a predetermined portion of the bowstring with yarn. The nock, which forms the rear section of the arrow, is placed onto the yarn, which is wound with abutting layers, so as to be released relatively easily. In order to accurately center the arrow and guide it to its position, a metal ring encircles the wound yarn at a location on the bowstring that has been measured out by the archer. This metal ring is clamped on with pliers.
This arrangement has the drawback that the arrow receptacle formed at the nocking point by the wound yarn very quickly wears out, since the wound yarn becomes loose and may be displaced or broken after a relatively short period of use. The arrow receptacle becomes too inaccurate with respect to its required diameter and consequently becomes useless for the archer. Another significant drawback is that, when the bow is drawn, the nock element is no longer in active engagement with the bowstring over its entire base surface. This results in increased clamping action on the part of the nock element on the bowstring and in undesirable tilting forces which lead to a considerable reduction in hitting accuracy. The same drawbacks are also exhibited by nocking points that are provided with several layers of wound yarn.
German Utility Model Patent GM 84/04,497 discloses a nocking member for use with arrows shot by hunting and sporting bows. The nocking member is composed of two essentially cylindrical shell elements having semi-circular cross sections. The shell elements encase the bowstring in a form-fitting manner and are provided with two spaced, radially projecting ring-shaped attachments. The portion of the nocking member that receives the arrow is delimited by these attachments. The half-shells are fastened to the bowstring with several windings of yarns that engage extensions of the shell elements provided next to the attachments.
Although this arrangement is able to withstand greater mechanical stresses than simply providing yarn windings, and thus has a longer service life, the connection between the nock element and the nocking member has a relatively great rigidity which, when the bowstring is tensioned, produces an effect that adversely influences hitting reliability due to the deviation of the bowstring from the vertical direction in the holding region.